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CERTIFICATION ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, PTCB, is
a national certification program that enables pharmacy technicians to
work more effectively with pharmacists to offer safe and effective patient
care and service. The
goal of PTCB's certification program is to enable pharmacy technicians
to work more effectively with pharmacists to offer greater patient
care and service. PTCB is responsible for the development and implementation
of policies related to national certification for pharmacy technicians.
There
are two parts to being a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT).
First, pharmacy technicians must sit for and pass the national
Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam, PTCE. Once a pharmacy technician
has passed the exam, he or she may use the designation of CPhT. Second,
to continue to hold certification, a CPhT is required to obtain twenty
hours of continuing education for recertification within two years of
original certification or previous recertification.
The application fee
is $129 for the PTCE. You must apply online
at ptcb.org or contact PTCB online (or
by phone, fax or mail) to request an application. Applications
can be submitted online or by mail. Online registration is subject
to the same timelines as the paper application process. All PTCB
deadlines are Midnight Eastern Standard Time. For details and
application materials please see exam information on the ptcb.org webpage
or contact PTCB directly.
The PTCB exam is offered in conjunction
with Pearson VUE and is administered over the course of four blocks
of time referred to as "testing windows." During these testing
windows, the examination is administered every day, several times per
day, in Pearson
Professional Centers nation-wide.
Eligibility Requirements
A person is not eligible to sit for
the PTCE, or to recertify for the CPhT credential,
if convicted of a felony that occurred within
the last five (5) years, and/or if the conviction
was drug or pharmacy-related.
Additionally, to sit for the PTCE a person must have received their high
school diploma or GED by the application receipt deadline. Individuals
who do not meet the eligibility requirement for education by
the application receipt deadline may request an exemption. The
request should include a signed letter of explanation and documents that
demonstrate that the necessary educational requirements will be met by
the examination date.
The PTCB exam is a Computer-Based
Testing (CBT) format which evaluates an individual candidate's competency
and understanding of the skills necessary to be a CPhT. CBT allows
for more examination dates, more testing locations, more scheduling flexibility,
and rapid reporting of examination results. In 2008 the examination
will be offered in four (4) 5-6 week-long periods during the
calendar year. These periods of
testing are called Testing Windows. Please check the 2008 Examination
Schedule to view the testing window dates for 2008.
The PTCE contains
90 multiple-choice questions. Candidates must obtain a scaled
score of at least 650 to pass the PTCE.
The content of the exam
is characterized under three function areas:
- Assisting the
Pharmacist in Serving Patients – 66% of exam
- Maintaining Medication and Inventory Control Systems – 22% of
exam
- Participating in the Administration and Management of Pharmacy
Practice – 12% of exam
For more information regarding the PTCE or
PTCB log onto the website at ptcb.org or contact
PTCB directly by mail:
Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board
1100
15th Street, NW Suite 730
Washington,
DC 20005-1707
or by phone: 1-800-363-8012
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